


Defining Us

by powerofxfanfic



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-02 02:30:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17879381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/powerofxfanfic/pseuds/powerofxfanfic
Summary: Defining UsPost-Chimera FicSummary: Ellen asked Mulder if he had a significant other…and he responded the way he usually did…maybe it was time to change the definitions.Dialogue is read like script-S is Scully/M is MulderDisclaimer: Chris Carter, FOX, Ten Thirteen productions. Those are the rightful owners, the real geniuses. I’m just an amateur taking them for a spin.Feedback is AWESOME.





	Defining Us

>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<  
There’s only one thing more precious than our time and that’s who we spend it on. – Leo Christopher  
>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<

I light the candles on the table and fold the napkins beside each plate. I look at my watch…ten more minutes before Scully arrives and another twenty minutes before the roast is finished. I pour two glasses of red wine. I dusted and vacuumed earlier so literally the only thing missing is Scully. 

This last case hit me in a way very few cases did. It wasn’t that it was creepier, more deadly, or less explainable than any other case. No, it was simply brought to my attention that while I am quick to make sure other women know I am not on the market, I am clueless to what it is “we” are. And by “we”, I mean Scully and I. It is obvious to me she is the only woman in my life and while I have never explicitly told her as much, I assumed she knew. And Ellen, the woman who had a lot going on in her own right, opened my eyes to more than just an X-file. She opened my eyes to the fact that I need to tell Scully what she means to me and we need to come up with a more widely understood definition of what we were. So, I blew the dust off my apartment and an old cookbook my mother had given me, fully ready to do just that. I didn’t let Scully in on what tonight was about, I merely told her I owed her a hot meal and a movie in a warm apartment since I ditched her on the stakeout. She happily accepted the invitation, so here I am. I feel anxious, or maybe this is excited, possibly a mixture of terror and joy? It’s hard to tell. I can profile anyone…except myself. 

There is a knock at the door and I toss my apron on the counter. I swing the door open, smiling.

M-Ready for your “I’m sorry I ditched you, but Skinner made me go, and I owe you so much more than dinner” dinner? 

Scully smiles and hands me a bottle of wine. I help her out of her coat and hang it up in the closet. 

S-Mulder, it seriously smells amazing in here? And did you clean? Are you sick? Did something happen on your case? 

She approaches me, her “Doctor” face on display, touches my forehead and neck, looking for trauma. 

M-I can cook, Scully. And I thought you’d appreciate a warm, clean apartment since you were less than impressed with our stakeout accommodations. 

I place the bottle of wine on the kitchen counter and hand her the pre-poured glass of wine. 

M-I’d like to propose a toast to…the most important woman in my life. 

S-Seriously, Mulder, are you okay? I’m thinking about ordering a CAT scan tomorrow. 

She clinks my glass anyway. 

M-Dinner will be ready in 7 minutes, if you want to sit down, I can serve the salad course? 

I pull the chair out for her and she sits. I can see she is still a bit baffled, but she’s warming up to me…I think. I put my apron back on, which elicits a little laugh. I put salad in two bowls, grate cheese over each serving, and drizzle olive oil. 

S-Did Skinner send you to some kind of finishing school, Mulder? 

I set the salad in front of her and sit down across from her. 

M-Just appreciate that your man can cook…and kind of clean…if needed. 

She arches her eyebrow. Maybe the “your man” comment was a bit much. I brace myself for the backlash, but nothing comes. She takes a bite of salad and another sip of wine. 

S-The salad is good…I’m impressed. 

The oven timer dings and I stand up.

M-Prepare to be amazed!

I pull the roast from the oven and it really is beautiful. If I was alone, I would take a picture of it. But since Scully is here, I have to pretend I do this all the time. Even though I know she knows better. I start the carving process and look over my shoulder. Scully has almost finished her salad and wine. I put a generous portion of roast beef and roasted potatoes on each plate, serving her first. I pour her another glass of wine and she looks genuinely amazed at the meal I have placed in front of her. 

S-Mulder, this looks amazing. I’m…I guess I’m a little perplexed. How long have you been holding out on me? 

M-Don’t get too excited, Scully. Taste it first. And to be very honest, I watched a lot of cooking channels today, to coincide with my cookbook reading. 

S-I didn’t know you got any other channels besides…

M-Ahh! Stop. Give me this moment. 

She smiles and spears a potato. 

S-Here goes nothing…

She takes a bite, and then another, and makes, could it be? Yummy noises? 

M-Good? 

S-This is the best thing I’ve put in my mouth in a long time…

It is my turn to arch an eyebrow. I take my own first bite and am pleasantly surprised. At least I know she isn’t pretending to like it.   
We eat in a happy, comfortable silence. This is another element of “us” that is something I’ve come to love. We can be together and be quiet, in our own heads, but it isn’t lonely. Because I know she is there if I need her, and I am here for her. I wonder if she realizes that we’ve mastered the comfortable silence. 

S-That was perfect, really. You never cease to amaze me sometimes. 

Scully stands and gathers the dishes, taking them to the sink. 

M-Don’t worry about the dishes, I can do those later. Get your wine and come sit with me. 

S-Are you sure? I don’t mind doing the dishes, you cooked. 

I gesture towards her wine glass and grab the bottle. 

M-Come on…come sit with me. 

She picks up her glass and follows me into the living room. I light the candle I placed on the coffee table earlier. She sits beside me and kicks off her shoes. I top off her wine glass and she settles back into the couch cushions. I take a gulp of wine, liquid courage you might say, and pull her bare feet into my lap. She looks a little uncertain at first, but when I start massaging each foot, she relaxes. 

S-If this is the thanks I get for a couple of days of crappy surveillance, give me crappy surveillance. 

She leans back, sipping her wine, clearly enjoying the attention I am giving to her feet. 

M-I just thought that you deserved a nice night. And that I was the best man for the job. 

S-You’re the only man, Mulder, let’s face it. 

That’s my cue, folks. This is where, hopefully, everything changes and we can finally give some kind of title to or at least acknowledge “us”. Because we are an “us”. 

M-It’s funny you say that. Because when I was in Vermont, someone asked me if I had a significant other. 

Scully perks up a little bit, her blue eyes piercing. 

S-Oh…

She starts to pull her feet away, but I stop her. 

M-And my immediate thought was “of course”. Of course I have someone in my life that is very, very significant. 

She stops pulling away, but she’s perched, ready to bolt. 

S-And if that’s what you thought, what did you say? 

M-I said not in the widely understood definition of that term. Even though in my heart, I know what it is, what we are. 

Scully sets her wine glass down on the coffee table locks her hands under her thighs. 

S-What are we? 

I smile at her, reach under her thighs, and grab her hands. 

M-We are soulmates, Scully, in every definition of that term. I don’t want to be with any other woman, because I’ll never feel about anybody the way I feel about you.

S-So if I’m your soulmate and you are mine, what does that mean? Does it mean we are together? 

I look down at her hands, smooth my thumb across her knuckles, and then I place a soft kiss where my thumb had been. 

M-That’s what I am asking, Scully. If you will be mine, in the widely understood definition of that word? Even if you say no, my answer to others won’t change. You still mean that much to me. 

Scully looks down at our clasped hands, painfully quiet. A feel a solitary tear roll down my hand and I look up to see her crying, which is never my intention.

M-No, no, that’s not what I wanted…

I pull her into my arms, let her sniffle and cry into my shirt. Way to go, Mulder, you made her cry. You should have let the undefined remain just that, undefined. It is really society that pushes us into thinking everything needs a “title” or a “definition”. I am the biggest advocate of not putting people in categories, right? People put me in class “spooky”, which is only slightly accurate, but still. It is annoying and really limits my growth, if I was one of those people that did things like that. Let’s just say, if growth was possible, mine may be limited due to society dubbing my as strange…a little out there…yes, spooky. Damn it, Ellen started this. How could I let someone with her own clear set of issues get into my head? Now, I broke Scully and I am shit when it comes to backtracking. I’m equally horrible at fixing things, this includes people and relationships. Look at my track record…I should tread a lot more lightly at matters of the heart. I’ve been so absorbed in my self-deprecating thoughts that I haven’t heard her saying my name. How long was she trying to get my attention? 

I look down and she is still in my arms, but she isn’t weeping anymore, she’s just looking up at my face. I smile, loosen my grip slightly, because I hadn’t noticed I was clinging a little too tightly. Even if she had wanted to make a run for it, she’d been stuck. 

M-Yes, sorry…I was a little lost in my own head. 

S-I noticed that. 

M-You do know that making you cry was not part of the plan, right? 

She smiles and nods, which breaks my heart while simultaneously putting it back together. How the hell does she manage that? 

S-I guess it was one of those situations you’ve been waiting to hear for so long that when it happens…when it finally happens…you react without hesitation. And…well, I guess I was so relieved that my reaction was…what it was…crying. 

M-Oh, thank God. 

I laugh, mostly at myself, and pull her back into a tight hug. 

M-You wouldn’t believe the horrible things I thought you were thinking. 

Her head is against my chest, which feels like this is where it should be all the time. She fidgets with the buttons on my shirt. 

S-Why would you ever think I didn’t want to hear that? 

I could give her a million reasons why. I could even provide scientific evidence why she’d be better off never being with me. But who am I to argue? 

M-I just realized what is the point of being in a committed relationship with someone if that someone doesn’t have the benefit of knowing? Or telling you to go to hell? 

S-Oh, Mulder, you have no idea, do you? How many times I’ve felt the same way. How many times I’ve lain down at night as your soulmate. Even when I’m alone, I’m with you. In my heart we are together. There is no one else. 

My heart is overwhelmed with joy. This is what love feels like. If it isn’t, I don’t want to know. This is how love with Scully feels and that’s all I need to know about love. I tilt her chin up, so I can look into her eyes, and it feels like I’m really seeing her for the first time. And she looks more beautiful, which I didn’t think was possible, but I should have never doubted it. Her eyes are the color of the tropical waters on the list of places I want to take her. Her lips are slightly parted and I want to take the chance, the biggest jump of all. I lean in slowly, giving her every chance to move or stop me, but she is still, waiting. The anticipation, years and years of anticipation, of near misses and near kisses, has led us to this exact moment. The philosophical magnificence I will have to wax poetic about another time, because my mouth is destined for a greater purpose, my only purpose from this moment on. When our lips finally meet, my body is afire with electrical surges, physical urges and undeniable lust. Had I known a kiss with her would change my entire sense of self, I would go back in time, and resurrect a near kiss moment, rewrite its end. But I’m not one to dwell on the past, or at least I’m not going to be that guy anymore. Not when the future feels and tastes like the sweetest honey. Yes, I’m giving you, my bee friend, a nod. I’m not even bitter about your intrusion because it was all part of the bigger picture. The plan that brought us closer and closer, the plan that let it be me… let me be the one to love her. This will be the first kiss, the first of many, and it is perfect. Everything about this kiss defines us; who we are and who we have been. And I know this is just the beginning...  
-La Fin


End file.
